FAN 2.0 Has Arrived!

Fluoride Action Network | August 28, 2012

It is with great excitement that we announce the launch of our new website, the largest, most ambitious, most revolutionary project in our organization’s 12-year history. The website is the product of a mini-Manhattan Project: a network of web programmers, graphic designers, professional translators, FAN researchers, and FAN volunteers, working on the unabashedly immodest goal of transforming public understanding about the role fluoride plays in human health.

Adding fluoride to water supplies began in the 1950s on the premise that children needed to swallow fluoride to reap its benefit. We now know that this premise was a false one. Fluoride’s primary benefit, whatever it may be, comes from topical contact with the teeth, not from ingestion. Further, despite claims in the 1950s and ’60s that fluoride was a nutrient, we now know this to be false as well. There was, and is, no need to swallow fluoride for any reason.

Had we known this in the 1950s, would water fluoridation have ever begun? Should a compound that does not treat the water, that does not need to be swallowed, that dental researchers now specifically warn not to give to infants, and that is readily available for individual use in the form of toothpaste, ever be added to the public’swater?

Such questions only scratch the surface of the many cracks, the many hazards, that can now be found in fluoridation’s aging paradigm, a paradigm that has sorely outlived its sell-by date. It is for this reason that we launch FAN 2.0 today — to do what the public health community in the United States and other fluoridated nations have thus far proven incapable of doing: to harness the power of information to enable the public to realize the obvious: that mass fluoridation of water supplies must end, once and for all.

FAN 2.0’s Features

FAN 2.0 is a powerhouse of information, because we believe good information brings about good results. Thanks to an exhaustive research effort by FAN’s Michael Connett, the site contains a vast amount of new research, new data, and new analysis, with findings from an additional 500 studies, including 26 new translations of foreign research, virtually all relevant studies from the past 2 years, and a series of illuminating illustrations (expertly designed by the tireless Stacey Hopp in Austin, Texas). All of which can be accessed at FAN’s Health Database. If you liked the previous Health Database , you’re going to love it in 2.0.

But the new website is not just geared towards the experts. Indeed, we have strived to create a website that provides clear and accessible information for people of all interest levels. This includes:

Simple Overviews: For those new to the fluoride issue, we have created the New Visitors section, which provides (1) video summaries of the key points, (2) short overviews on how fluoride affects teeth and health, and (3) simple clear tips on the most effective ways to reduce fluoride exposure. In addition, we have completely rewritten our FAQs page to provide an easy-to-understand, yet comprehensive introduction to the fluoride issue.

Detailed Overviews: For those already familiar with the fluoride issue, we have created the Issues page, which is a section of the site for which we are particularly excited. The page breaks the fluoride morass into 10 distinct issues, and provides detailed summaries and ample documentation for each.

In-Depth Research: The Researchers Section is the section of the site for those who want to dig deep into the fluoride issue, into its science and politics. Sections on this page include:

The Health Database: Detailed summaries and exhaustive references for over 80 aspects of fluoride toxicity.

The NRC Report (2006): An in-depth overview of the National Research Council’s landmark 2006 report on fluoride toxicity, including a discussion of its relevance to water fluoridation.

EPA Fluoride Files:Documentary evidence, and detailed analysis, proving that EPA’s decision in 1986 to increase the level of fluoride allowed in water (to 4 mg/L) was based on relentless political pressure, not science. The documents make clear that virtually every (non-dental) scientific expert the EPA consulted, including its own professionals, objected to the 4 mg/L standard that EPA ended up enacting.

FDA Fluoride Files: Documentary evidence and analysis showing that (1) the FDA has never approved prescription fluoride “supplements” as safe or effective, and (2) the Agency’s justifications for not doing so are self-contradictory and, often, demonstrably false.

Harvard/Bone Cancer Files: Here you can download the documents that sparked national headlines and triggered a year-long NIH investigation into scientific misconduct by Harvard dental professor Chester Douglass, during his tenure as principal investigator of Harvard’s ongoing fluoride/bone cancer study. But, more than that, you can also download the unredacted documents FAN subsequently obtained under the Freedom of Information Act which clearly show that Douglass did not want to release data that would jeopardize the water fluoridation program.

FAN’s Pesticide Project:The web’s most comprehensive database on fluorinated pesticides, including cryolite and sulfuryl fluoride, created and maintained by the tireless Ellen Connett.

Perfluorinated Chemicals: Sometimes called “The Teflon Chemicals,” FAN’s Ellen Connett began tracking them in 2000 because of their use in several pesticides. Here we document the toxicity studies, government reports, class action suits, and newspaper accounts.

Information for Activists: Water fluoridation is a practice that is easiest to defeat at the local level, and it generally starts with the initiative of a single individual, often someone with no prior experience campaigning. If you want to throw your hat in the ring and stop fluoridation in your community, or state, our Campaign Director, Stuart Cooper, has provided some practical guidance on how to do so in our “Take Action” section.

State Database: The State Fluoride Database provides state-specific fluoride information for every state in the United States. This information includes:

the latest fluoride news;

the water fluoride levels in each community;

a list of communities rejecting fluoridation;

a list of industries that emit fluoride pollution;

a list of communities that have high levels of naturally occurring fluoride in the water;

the state’s laws or regulations governing fluoridation;

contact information for FAN’s state coordinator.

FAN.tv: And, last but not least, we have integrated a tv channel throughout the new website. The channel, (FAN.tv), contains most of the videos that FAN has ever produced, including a number of new short summaries of specific issues.

Acknowledgments:

Throughout this project, the FAN Team has benefited greatly from the meticulous and time-consuming efforts of several individuals. They are:

DJ Catrow, Jon Linton, and Benjamin Miles (LoudMouth Design). DJ, Jon, and Miles are our resident programming and web design geniuses. They’ve spent the past year working on the site and have had the patience to spare our endless tweaks and suggestions;

Stacey Hopp. Stacey created dozen of excellent illustrations and figures, which you will see dispersed throughout the site;

Jennifer Steinbachs, PhD (https://naturopath.pro/) Jennifer generously volunteered her time to exquisitely format our newly translated studies into a professional layout;

Sarah Caldwell (Zhang Yuan). Sarah, who is originally from China, worked with a network of family and friends in China to access over 80 Chinese studies, which was an invaluable help to us. Sarah also provided preliminary translations of several papers and useful feedback on others.

James Miles. James volunteered to help with some timely formatting issues on several of the Chinese translations.

Julian Brooke. Julian did a masterful job, once again, translating a number of the Chinese studies.

FAN’s Supporters: Everyone who has donated to FAN in the past, please know that your contributions helped make this project possible. Indeed, without the previous financial support of our members, we would not have the funds to pull this project off in the manner that we did. So thank you, again, for your support!